Flint Activist Raises Over $130K For Water Filtration Systems

12-year-old activist Amariyanna Copeny⁠—dubbed Little Miss Flint⁠—is furthering her efforts to address the water crisis in her city. According to Atlanta Black Star, Copeny teamed up with a water filtration company to make clean water accessible within her community.

Copeny spearheaded a fundraising campaign to bring clean and safe water to Flint and other places impacted by contaminated water. The funds will go towards creating a long-term sustainable solution to the water crisis by bringing state-of-the-art water filters to underserved communities. The implementation of the water filters would give individuals the ability to have safe running water within their households instead of spending long periods of time waiting in line to get donated bottles of water. It would also curb plastic waste. Over $130,000 has been raised towards her $150,000 goal. Copeny is partnering with the company Hydroviv which designs and builds custom water filters.

“Ever since April 2014 my community has been faced with a lead crisis that we’re still recovering from. My community needed water they could trust and bottled water was the only resource for drinking water that many in my community trusted,” she wrote on her GoFundMe page. “For my new donation campaign, my team has partnered with a socially-responsible water filtration company, which will allow us to maximize the impact of donated funds and eliminate the single-use plastic waste that is associated with bottled water.” Copeny has been dedicated to spreading awareness about the Flint water crisis and evoking change. Through her campaigns, she’s donated over one million bottles of water to families in need.

Young activists are stepping up to address Flint’s water crisis. In March, rapper and actor Jaden Smith’s eco-friendly natural spring water brand JUST Goods Inc. joined forces with Flint’s First Trinity Missionary Baptist Church to implement a system called “The Water Box” which can help reduce lead and other toxic chemicals in contaminated water.